New Traditions
by heartlandiansoisle
Summary: The people of Hudson find themselves in new positions during the Holidays as it's time to create new traditions. CH: Amy, Ty, Georgie, Jack, Lisa, Lou, Mitch, Peter, Katie, Tim, Casey, Jen, Wyatt, Brick and Jade. Sets around the end of season 11, but doesn't really follow any of the season's story lines. No Baby Lyndy, though, as she didn't fit into the story.
1. Chapter 1

It was probably the fifth time today that Jade heard "Jingle Bells" playing at Maggie's Diner. The fact that it wasn't even close to closing time and she would be working all day made her scared for her sanity. She wasn't sure how many more times she could take it before she would finally snap. Who even had come up with this playlist? Lou? Jen? Why had no one consulted her? After all, she was the spokesperson for the open mic nights they held at Maggie's every now and then. Because if they had consulted her, she would have let them know that there were other songs out there for this holiday season-and most of them were less annoying as well.

The only comfort Jade was able to find at this point was that after today, she probably wouldn't hear the song again for the next ten months until the radio stations and shops decided that it was time to bring back Christmas in the middle of October, and at least listening to "Jingle Bells" over five times in a row meant that she was working on Christmas Eve and that meant she would make few extra bucks.

"So, how do I look?" Mitch asked Jade as they were at the back of the tack section, getting him ready to face the kids in a Santa costume. He made few poses, clearly loving his new figure that included, among other things, a pillow tucked under the red, fuzzy coat.

"Your beard is all wrong," Jade said, pulling it over his face from under his chin. The elastic band snapped against Mitch's face when Jade made sure the beard was positioned right. "You can't just let the kids see your face and expect them to believe you're the real Santa. They know these things."

"I know, but it keeps driving me crazy if I pull it over my mouth!" Mitch said, sighing. The beard moved along with the movements of his jaw and made his speech slurry. "I can't even speak properly. Besides, it's only a matter of time before one of the kids realizes that they can pull this thing-that'll screw it all up. I was just thinking ahead," he tried, but Jade could see right through him.

"Tough luck," Jade said, making last checks before the man would be good to go and meet the kids on the other side of the diner. "You agreed to do this, so do it properly. I mean, the kids are the least of your concerns; you not only have Lou to face now but Jen as well. And when those two put their heads together, everything has to be PER-fect."

She rolled her eyes, knowing all about how the new Maggie's manager was almost like Lou's clone when it came to arranging everything. Lou and Jen had found this strange sisterhood from doing things the same way-the only way: perfectly.

Mitch sighed. "You're right." He had to give it to Jade, pulling himself together. "Besides, what wouldn't we do to make kids happy?" he said, but Jade knew almost for sure that Mitch wasn't doing this for the kids.

She wasn't sure what was going on with Lou and Mitch-one minute they were on; the next they were off-but one thing she did know was that Mitch was still not over Lou and that was probably the only reason he agreed to do this Santa thing in the first place: to be close to her and maybe even impress her a little. Why else would someone in their right mind even volunteer to do this?

"Right. Or to make money." Jade expressed her side of things and gave Mitch a little shove so he would go out there and face the situation.

The diner side was full of kids due to an event Jen had organized for charity. Since her arrival to Hudson and to Maggie's, the diner had been having all sorts of events almost weekly, and while that was exciting to Jade in a way-it brought that nice little buzz along to this half-dead little town-she figured it was somewhat Jen's way to make up for the emptiness her husband's passing earlier this year had brought with it. Organizing seemed to make her happy, so Jade figured that it was what people should allow her to do, as it wasn't as harmful as some other ways to deal with a loss.

At the door, Jen was welcoming the kids and their parents to the first ever "Maggie's Gingerbread House Work Shop." The idea was to have kids come in, build their own version of the gingerbread house provided by Maggie's, and at the same time give parents time to just relax and meet other parents from the area. In return, Jen had figured the kids could bring toys they didn't need anymore that would then be given to a children's hospital during this holiday season.

So far, things seemed to be going well. The place was almost packed, and Jen's own son, Brick, was there with Lou's daughter, Katie, helping other kids with whatever needs they had. It seemed like it was in their blood to help other people as well.

To Jen, Katie had been the secret weapon that Brick had needed to open up to the world again after his father's death. Jen couldn't have been happier to be here-despite the unfortunate circumstances-as it seemed Hudson was just the place to be to help her and her two sons to form new traditions that didn't have painful memories attached to them. They would never forget Curtis, of course, but it would've just been too much to stay where they'd lived and celebrate Christmas with just the three of them. Starting over on some level had felt like the best thing to do, even though it was still going to be their first Christmas without Curtis and nothing could ever fully make them feel okay about it.

"Thank you for coming. Feel free to sit wherever you want," Jen said to the parents and a kid coming in after they had given her a stuffed bunny toy. "Everything you need to build a gingerbread house is on the table, and the counter and the tables at the back are for parents to sit and enjoy a hot cup of cocoa. And Merry Christmas to you all!" She gave them her warmest smile.

"Merry Christmas," the family replied.

Lou walked over to Jen now that Jade was done with Mitch and had taken over the counter. The owner of the diner was impressed with the work Jen had done with organizing this event while she had mostly been in New York getting the new Maggie's diner open.

"Wow, so many people," Lou admired, a glimmer in her eyes. "I have to be honest with you, and I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but I didn't expect the turn-out to be this good, especially on Christmas Eve. I thought people would be going crazy at home with the cleaning and cooking. I'm very impressed."

"Maybe that's why they're here?" Jen suggested, glancing at her boss. "Maybe they need a break from all that? I mean, maybe it's just me, but I'd rather have peaceful time and not stress about things when Christmas should be all about spending the time with your loved ones."

Lou could hear Jen's voice crack a little, but the widow put up a brave front. Lou looked at her sympathetically and could see that Jen was so focused on holding it together that she was almost trembling. Lou had to ask if it was too much for her.

"Are you sure you want to be here? I mean, you could go and be with Casey and the boys; we'll be fine here," Lou offered, putting her hand on Jen's shoulder as a comforting gesture.

"No, it's fine," Jen protested. "Besides, Casey's somewhere with Tim, and Wyatt said he was okay being at Heartland with Georgie. I feel like the best thing to do right now is to let him do whatever feels comfortable for him. And look at Brick; he's having a blast," she said, tears forming in her eyes as she witnessed her son teaching other kids how to "glue" candy on top of the roof. "I'm right where I'm supposed to be," Jen concluded. "But thanks, Lou. I appreciate it."

"Okay... if you're sure," Lou said, smiling weakly. Even though she could see that her friend was hurting, at the same time she believed in what she was saying; it seemed like Jen was really in her element here, organizing and entertaining people. How could she take that opportunity away from her? She couldn't.

Lou knew that first Christmases without a family member there were hardest. She had once gone through a Christmas without her dad after he'd been kicked out of the house; then without her grandmother, who had passed; and eventually without her own mother, who they'd lost in an accident over ten years ago. It wasn't as if they'd lost Peter as well, but being divorced made things a little different too. Lou no longer felt the magic of Christmas like she used to, but she was glad to have her own kids, who were somehow able to revive some of the happiness she too had once felt about the family holiday.

Lou returned to the counter to make sure Jade was doing okay, but she let her eyes slip and suddenly she was just standing there, staring at Mitch Cutty in the corner, sitting on his Christmas-y throne with kids on his lap and listening to the list of things they wanted for Christmas. The sight made her smile. It had been nice of Mitch to offer to be the Santa after the previous one had bailed out because he'd driven his car off the road last night from being under the influence. Lou hadn't wanted to risk it with a hung-over Santa, so she'd needed a replacement as soon as possible. The only problem was that most rental Santas were no longer available at this point, so she'd had to ask people from her immediate circle.

Mitch had been the only one available.

"Lou." Jade's blunt voice pulled her back from her thoughts as she stepped in front of her and blocked her view.

"I was just making sure the kids aren't scared of Mitch." Lou answered a question no one had even asked. But she didn't want to get caught daydreaming about the guy who she was supposed to be over by now. "Because some kids don't like Santa Claus..."

"Yeah, whatever." Jade didn't really care about whatever Lou was talking about. "I just wanted to say that if I'm going to be working all day here, I need to insist on becoming a part-time DJ. I can't hear another version of 'Jingle Bells' without kicking something!"

"Yeah, sure-fine, whatever. I didn't have time to come up with a good playlist anyway, so I just figured I'd choose one that's already been made by someone," Lou replied and gestured toward the stereo system. "The laptop's over there; help yourself."

"Thanks. I let you get back to your daydreaming now." Jade said her snide remark and made Lou blush.

She sure hope Jade was the only one who'd witnessing her thinking about the guy under the Santa suit...


	2. Chapter 2

Ty wrapped his arm around Amy as they stood at the gates of the wildlife reserve and waved their goodbyes to Bob as he was driving off to spend some time with his family. It was chilly outside, and the sun was shining behind the mountains, revealing the million diamonds hidden among the snow. But being outside and cold wasn't going to be a problem for the couple for long as they would soon have their hands full of tasks now that they were in charge of the reserve for a few days, allowing Bob to have some time off, something he rarely had with running a business like this mostly on his own.

"It was really nice of you to offer to do this," Amy said when they could no longer see the back lights of Bob's truck. Even though she'd expressed her admiration for Ty's offer before this moment, she felt like it was worth saying again. Ty looked at Amy and smiled, squeezing her side gently, taken by the compliment. "Who knows how long it's been since Bob has seen his family. And him going to meet them for Christmas feels extra special, somehow."

Ty nodded a little, agreeing that Bob being with his family was something he deserved. "It felt like the right thing to do," he commented. "And thanks for joining me. It definitely makes things easier."

Bob's reserve was a somewhat small place, yet there were many wild animals being looked after, and just feeding them was a task of its own, never mind the treatments and rehabilitation that Bob did whenever an injured animal was found. Ty knew he could've done it all on his own on these next few days, like Bob often did, but he also knew he would be exhausted by the end of the day and he probably wouldn't have had the time or energy to participate in anything that Christmas time usually involved.

Amy and Ty turned around and headed back to Bob's hut so they could get started with things. The snow crunched under their feet as they walked side by side on the snowy reserve.

"Besides, being here and helping out doesn't mean that we wouldn't be able to spend any time with our own family. If we were back at the ranch, we would be able to be with everyone, but I'd know Bob wouldn't be able to be with his family and that doesn't seem fair. So why not allow him some time off if we can help him out, you know? And like I said earlier, Scott said he'd pitch in later and give us some time to go back to Heartland and enjoy a Christmas meal together with everyone, so overall it's a win-win situation."

Amy smiled a little, feeling like they were giving a gift of some type to Bob and in return were able to do something fun themselves as well. "Yeah. I'm glad Georgie has Wyatt to help with the horses; makes me feel less guilty for joining you," Amy admitted, "even though I not-so-secretly wanted to find out what it's like to spend Christmas at a wildlife reserve. It's definitely not something I've done before, but I'm excited to try."

"Who are you and what have you done to my wife?" Ty laughed a little and put his arm from Amy's side to her back so he could turn her a little and pull her body against his so they could cuddle a little before they would have to feed all the animals. "You, doing something new and out of the ordinary? Doesn't sound like the Amy I know."

He gave Amy an impish look, and she felt self-conscious. "Well, sometimes the old gets old," Amy grinned, giving Ty a kiss. "Besides, the most important thing for me during Christmas is to spend it with you. If you're here, then I want to be here too."

They'd had a few Christmases apart over the years and none of them had felt right. When Ty had decided to suggest to volunteer at the reserve, Amy had wanted to join him, but not before she'd been sure everyone at home could be able to do all the Christmas chores without her.

With Lou being busy at the diner and Lisa tending her broken arm, Jack and Peter were mostly in charge of planning Christmas back at Heartland while Georgie had promised to take care of the horses. The circumstances were new for everyone involved, but every single one of them were willing to try to make things work, so why wouldn't she, too, especially if it meant that she would be helping Ty's friend to be closer to his family? Amy knew she was blessed to have the one that she did, no matter how weird and dysfunctional it was, so she wanted everyone else to have the same opportunity as well.

"I'm not complaining," Ty concluded, kissing Amy on the nose before he was ready for work. "Okay, how about you check the gates over there and I do this side?" He started planning.

It was useful that he helped out Bob from time to time because now he knew better the history of every animal and how things worked around here. Bob had been excited to jump on the chance to be with his family, and one of the reasons was probably that he trusted Ty to do things right. Had it been anyone else, outside Ty or Scott, Bob probably wouldn't have gone. He cared for these animals and wanted them to get the best care he could possibly provide.

"Sounds like a plan," Amy said. Even though she usually worked with horses, she had a soft spot for all kinds of other animals as well, and while she enjoyed seeing the various pets Ty, Cassandra, and Scott treated at the vet clinic on a daily basis, there was something about wild animals that really felt magical to her. They needed a different kind of approach, one that Amy was somewhat familiar with, especially after working with wild horses in the past. Each animal had their own unique language, and Amy couldn't wait to learn more.

"Okay. I'll see you in the middle," Ty said before they went their separate ways and got things started.

* * *

At Heartland, Jack had his hands on his hips as he scanned the gifts Lisa had previously stored inside their room for months, slowly building her stash so that when Christmas was finally here, she would be prepared. At the moment, the presents were all laid out in the living room, ready to be wrapped. But there was one problem: Lisa had her arm in a cast and was currently being very clumsy, therefore preventing her from doing the usual gift-wrapping.

"It is... a lot," Jack uttered finally, still wondering who all these gifts were for.

Lisa, who stood next to him and felt already weary enough, could see the judgment in Jack's eyes. It was officially their first Christmas together under the same roof, which also meant that this year had been a roller coaster of getting used to all the habits that hadn't come up before they'd actually spent almost all of their time together.

This seemed to be one of those dicey situations.

"Well, there's a lot of people." Lisa tried to justify the amount of things she'd bought for everyone. She didn't have a big family on her side, but now that she did from Jack's side, she didn't want to leave anyone out-not to mention she loved giving gifts.

This year hadn't been good to her financially, but she was willing to leave a few not-so-necessary things out from her own shopping list so she could give other people happiness in form of presents.

"I was going to buy one thing for everyone, but then I saw something for Katie and I had to buy it, and this other thing reminded me of Georgie, and I figured she'd love it, and I didn't want to leave anyone out, so I just... bought everyone at least two gifts."

"At least," Jack echoed, feeling like Lisa was maybe downplaying the number.

Lisa sighed. Jack wasn't really helping when she needed support. This was a big deal for her. She knew that a wealthy person having money problems probably wasn't the sob story of a year, but it was an adjustment, and even though it would make her life a little harder, she still wanted to show that something about her lifestyle hadn't changed; she still wanted to be a gift-giver, no matter what. It made other people happy, so it made her happy. She wanted to allow herself this happiness during these trying times.

"You know what, I'll just go to the town and buy gift bags, even though it totally takes away the joy of unwrapping the presents," she sighed, already going to get her purse and her keys.

"No, no, you're not going anywhere." Jack stopped her right there, taking her gently by her arm. "For one, you're not supposed to drive, and secondly, we can... handle this, somehow."

As soon as Jack said the words, he was anything but sure about what he'd just said. He knew he was being difficult, but that wasn't what he wanted to be, especially on Christmas, and especially to Lisa, especially after she'd just spend hours at the hospital, getting her arm wrapped in a cast after slipping on stairs.

Even though this gift situation wasn't a crisis to him personally and he still didn't see the need to buy everyone (at least) two presents when Lisa herself wasn't doing so well financially, he wasn't going to judge Lisa's own decisions too harshly as he could recognize that this was something like a crisis for his wife and he wouldn't be a good husband if he didn't try to do something about that.

"We'll figure something out." Jack tried to assure Lisa again, but she wasn't buying it, even though Jack was usually really good at keeping her calm. "Can I just ask you one question?"

Lisa wasn't sure if she was in the mood for that, but replied anyway. "What?"

"Why didn't you wrapped any of these when you bought them, or even last week, way before Christmas? You had months and months," Jack wanted to know before they could come up with a solution that would hopefully satisfy Lisa.

"Well, it's sort of a tradition of mine," Lisa explained, feeling a little coy about it, "I like to do the wrapping on Christmas Eve; it sort of builds up the excitement of it all."

She knew it was somewhat silly, but she loved Christmas, not because she wanted to get gifts, but because she wanted to give them and because there was something magical about the atmosphere. Wrapping gifts and listening to Christmas music over wine was something she did every year on Christmas Eve for hours, and if she wasn't able to do that, it just wouldn't feel right.

Jack looked at Lisa, and she was already ready to hear some type of teasing comment from him, but instead he just nodded. "Okay. Well," he sighed, before continuing, "I have one suggestion, but I know you won't like it."

"What is it?" Lisa said. She already had many options running through her head, and she didn't know which was going to be the worst-or maybe she did. "As long as it's not us getting the gift bags. When I said I hate them, I meant it."

"Well, this might be even worse," Jack replied. When he noticed Lisa holding her breath, he figured it was time to reveal the plan. "What if... _I_ wrap them?"


	3. Chapter 3

"I am an idiot," Tim Fleming said as he slammed his truck door shut when he stepped out and faced a road-or what should have been a road-that was covered under a thick white snow blanket. His jaw was clenched and his hands found their way to his hips as he took in the unfortunate sight. It took everything in him to hold back the frustration that built up to be anger the longer he looked at what was in front of him.

The only reason he didn't just toss his hat off and kick the tires of his truck was probably the woman standing next to him. Casey. She too looked puzzled, even disappointed, but stayed calm and seemed more worried about him than about their ruined plans.

 _So that's it?_ Tim thought. _We haven't even gotten to the fishing cabins and the whole thing is already ruined? After the year we've had, we deserve better than this._

Tim had imagined that they'd face some obstacles, since Jack's fishing cabin wasn't a luxurious tourist attraction with the latest bells and whistles, but Tim had expected something like wet firewood (which was why he had brought some with them) and maybe even a smoky chimney, but not even getting to their destination seemed like an awful start.

"Didn't you say that your friend Stumpy was supposed to clear this?" Casey checked, trying to remember if she'd even got the name right. Stumpy seemed like an odd name. There had to be a story behind it...

They'd planned this trip for weeks now, but with both of them being so busy with their lives just before Christmas, Tim had figured he could use some help with getting things ready. That was where Stumpy had come in.

"I did," Tim replied, squeezing his neck out of frustration. He then let out a sad laugh, as he realized maybe he couldn't even be mad about this. "But I can't even say that I blame him. I blame myself for being stupid enough to think that he would do this favor for me. I should have known I couldn't trust him to do this. I'm just going to call him." He took his cell phone out of his pocket and started to look for Stumpy's number.

"Tim, wait." Casey stopped him. "What can he even do at this point? It'll take him hours before he could even get here. By that time it'll already be dark," she pointed out.

Tim lowered his phone, removing his finger from the green mobile icon. "Doesn't mean I couldn't still yell at him," Tim said, clearly looking for someone to aim his anger at.

Casey sighed, disapproving of his method. "I know it looks like this isn't going to happen, but there has to be some other way. How far long is the cabin exactly?"

"It's still a long way to go," Tim explained as this would have been Casey's first time at the cabin and she didn't know the direction. "If there weren't this much snow, it would be an easier trek, but, well..."

He glared at the snowy road before them, knowing that they would probably be knee-deep in it and exhausted by the time they'd get to the cabin. That didn't exactly sound like something he'd had in mind when he'd "booked them" this get-away break from Christmas.

"What if-" Casey let the sentence hang in the air as she went back to the truck and started to dug something out from the back.

Meanwhile, Tim waited, sighing to himself, and wondered if they would have to sleep in the truck or find some cheap motel to stay in as they wouldn't make back to Hudson anymore, not before the day would turn into night, anyway.

"We use these?" Casey suggested when she came back to Tim, holding two pair of snow shoes. Tim goggled them suspiciously.

"Snow shoes?" he asked when he couldn't imagine himself wearing them. Casey could have just as well shown him clown shoes.

Almost hurt how quickly Tim was dismissing her idea, Casey pursed her lips together. "You got other bright ideas?"

"Well, no, but... why do you even have those?" Tim wanted to know.

"Why not? Besides, if I didn't have them, we wouldn't even have this option. So, what do you say? And let me remind you that we've been planning this trip for weeks now. It's either these shoes, or we go back."

Tim looked at them again, wondering if he was crazy or just crazy in love with this woman because he heard himself say, "Fine. We'll use those. But you're going to help me carry the firewood or I might dislocate my shoulder again. I wasn't planning on carrying them more than a few meters from the truck to the cabin." He was back to bellyaching again, as usual.

"You kidding me?" Casey said. "I expected to do that anyway. I mean, do you remember when we arm wrestled and you lost? Clearly I'm the one with more strength," she continued as she went back to the truck so they could get started packing all the stuff they would need. Casey could almost sense Tim collecting things to defend himself with.

"You know, you caught me on a bad day." Tim tried to find excuses. "I mean, that was my weaker arm. I figured you could use the leverage. And besides, I couldn't have risked hurting my shoulder again, you know."

Casey chuckled. "You keep telling yourself that."

* * *

Back at Heartland, Wyatt was helping Georgie brush the horses. The day had been full of chores, and it seemed there was no end in sight. While it was hard work, Wyatt wasn't complaining; he was always up for any kind of challenge, and besides, this gave him an excuse to hang out with Georgie.

"If someone had told me a year ago I'd be looking after horses on Christmas Eve, I would have said they were full of crap," Wyatt hummed, running the brush along Buddy's coat. It wasn't that he was completely unfamiliar with horses, but he would rather spent his time around his Mustang and not around its four-legged versions.

"Well, you're doing me and everyone else here a huge favor," Georgie said pleasantly. She wasn't even that mad that she was elbows-deep in chores because the company made all the difference. "Besides, I like having you at Heartland."

"Yeah?" Wyatt seemed happy to hear that. He smiled smugly to himself, making sure he'd gotten this side of Buddy covered.

Georgie nodded in the other stall as she reached to brush Spartan's back, then realizing Wyatt wasn't able to see it. "Yeah. Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot," Wyatt urged, going under Buddy's neck to the other side of the horse.

"Brick seems to be a pretty good rider for his age, and he has that little cowboy thing down. How come he's so good with horses and you're not?" Georgie asked.

"I'll try not to take that as an insult," Wyatt said as the first thing, making Georgie smile as she knew he knew she hadn't meant it that way even though it did sound a little bit rude. "But, uh . . . I guess it was more of his thing with our dad. My dad was always into rodeo things and stuff like that. Me, not so much. There were pictures of me wearing a plaid shirt and one of those fancy buckles while I was growing up, but I think that as soon as I knew how to work matches, I destroyed them."

"What?!" Georgie chuckled. "You did not!"

"I did, trust me. I mean, that's just child abuse, using your kid to your own amusement-I didn't consent to that," Wyatt went on, making Georgie chuckle as she couldn't imagine there being anything wrong about wearing plaid. "So, yeah. I guess I kind of wanted to be the black sheep of the family." He shrugged to himself.

"What about Jen? Is she into the rodeo thing?" Georgie asked. She'd only gotten to know Jen mostly through Maggie's, and it almost felt weird asking her these type of things, especially because she was Wyatt's mom. It was almost like stepping over some type of boundary.

"Well, she went to see Dad do all those crazy stunts, but she only rides horses every now and then. She's more into the home mom thing, I guess," Wyatt explained.

"So... if you and your dad were so different, did you ever do anything together?" Georgie asked carefully, genuinely curious about this part of Wyatt's life. He'd never talked about Curtis that much, but Georgie being very close with her own father, she couldn't imagine there being any other way, even if there were differences between interests. She only hoped that if things got too uncomfortable for Wyatt to talk about, he could just tell her to stop asking.

But it seemed like this time he didn't.

"Actually, usually, during Christmas we had this family thing," Wyatt explained, opening up a little because he hadn't been able to stop from thinking about it for a week because this was his first Christmas without experiencing it.

He was too scared to bring it up to Jen or Brick, almost as if fearing he would hurt their healing process, but someone from the outside, someone understanding, could probably be the person he could share it with.

Georgie listened. "What is it?"

"We used to go and play hockey with this family next door. They had like six kids," he shared. "My dad was a goaltender; I was a forward. Brick was too young to play, but I could tell he couldn't wait to get on skates and come along. He's kind of fearless like that." Wyatt smiled as the nostalgic memories washed over him. "I wasn't always on the same page with Dad, but he knew how much that day meant to me. We did that ever since it was just two of us, and when Jen married my dad, she became part of it too. She didn't play, but she brought the best hot cocoa with her and cheered on the sides. It kind of helped us slowly become a family, as weird as that may sound."

Georgie walked outside the stall as she felt maybe this was something that could make Wyatt upset and in need of comforting. She was also kind of mesmerized by the way Wyatt had suddenly decided to open up to her like this.

"We would have probably had Brick on the skates this year, but Dad got sick, and then... life just sort of became all about that, so... " Wyatt shrugged again, drifting off. "It's kind of weird: back at last Christmas, Dad hadn't told me that he was sick, but I think he knew himself; I mean, that's what everyone said after he passed, that he knew longer than he let us in on. He probably knew it was going to be his last time playing. Meanwhile, I had no idea. Maybe I would've played harder if I had, or something. Made him proud."

"I'm so sorry," Georgie said as she reached Buddy's stall. Wyatt was almost startled as he'd drifted off into the memories and hadn't noticed Georgie walking closer.

"Well, it is what it is," Wyatt said, quickly back to folding his heart inside. "I guess it's time to make new traditions, eh? Who says Christmas has to smell like gingerbread and candy canes when there's horse crap?" He tried to smile, but it felt forced.

Georgie smiled a little, but there was a sad trace in her expression. She could tell Wyatt was hurting, but he tried to-once again-disguise it behind his witty comments.

"I guess so," Georgie replied, feeling like maybe this was all she could-or should-get out of Wyatt at this point.


	4. Chapter 4

With Ty's advice in the back of her mind, Amy went to feed the animals at "her side" of the reserve. She had been told not to talk to them, as Bob didn't want them to become accustomed to the sound of people talking (especially to them), and Ty had told her not to make any eye contact with them either, as the animals could easily feel themselves threatened or challenged. Basically, what Amy was planning to do was be quickly in and out of their pens.

Amy found it a little funny that she was somewhat nervous to do this. It wasn't as if every horse she ever came in contact with was "harmless" either, yet with them, she didn't worry as much—maybe because she knew how to read them better and she knew how to give them the clues they needed to know what she wanted from them. But wild animals were a new thing to her, and while she could pick up a lot from their body language just using her head, it was still all uncharted territory for her.

Going in, Amy kept her glance directed downward while still being aware where the animals were when she went into the pens, as it was important to know which path to use so the animals wouldn't feel intimidated and she would be able to get out quickly if the situation demanded it.

Thankfully, everything went well, and Bob had left very clear instructions about what to give and how much to each animal, since Amy herself wouldn't have probably been able to guess how much every animal needed. She was more used to feeding horses, and they ate like—well—horses.

When she closed the door of the last pen, which belonged to a recovering caribou, Amy noticed something hiding behind its shelter outside the pen.

She could feel her heart racing faster and cold shivers running through her spine as her mind started to go through all the possible options. The caribou Bob had in one of his pens had seemed a little jumpy when she'd fed her, but Amy had figured that it was because the animal hadn't known her, but maybe it had actually been because there was a predator nearby and the caribou was trusting her gut—which was telling her to run.

Amy took careful steps so she could get a better look, just to know if she, Ty, and the animals were in danger, while still staying alert and ready to run for cover. The more steps she took, the clearer it became to her that the animal wasn't dangerous.

As she saw the whole body of the animal, Amy noticed it was another caribou, a smaller one, that had seemed to find its way to the reserve, maybe hoping to find some company or food.

When the situation eased a little bit, Amy realized there was probably another reason why the outsider had come to seek shelter; as Amy's eyes went through the thick coat of the animal, she realized it was feeling weak and badly hurt and could use someone's help.

Taking her walkie-talkie from her waist, Amy pressed the button on the side and started talking into it. "Ty, you need to come to the back pen with a tranquilizer. There's a hurt caribou here," Amy instructed him. There was no way they would be able to capture the animal in order to help it without calming it down first, which was why a little chemical help was needed. If they just let nature do its part, the animal would most likely die, and Amy couldn't bear the thought—especially on her watch and on Christmas.

* * *

Meanwhile at Heartland, Georgie walked inside the house with Wyatt tagging along after they'd completed the chores—for now. They still had work to do later today, but it was time to take a little break, get something to eat, and just sit for a while. Not to mention, it was nice to be able to feel their toes every once in a while.

"My legs are killing me." Wyatt sat on the bench, took off his shoes, and gently rubbed his feet to make the blood rush a little faster.

"You just aren't used to using them as much." Georgie took off her coat and scarf before hanging them to the nooks on the wall. The warmth of the house welcomed them in and made her shiver a little as the temperature changed so drastically, so fast.

"I don't know how you do it," the young man wondered. He hadn't heard Georgie complain about the amount of work they had to do or even about her feet during this time—it actually seemed like it didn't faze her at all.

Georgie hummed, removing her boots. "Working in a diner, riding, and doing chores every day does wonders for your calves. Trust me."

"I'll take your word for it," Wyatt said, smirking, and got to his feet again to take off his coat. "Hey, do you think I could use the bathroom?"

"I don't see why not. You remember where it is, right?" she checked. Wyatt had only been at Heartland a handful of times, but the layout of the house wasn't hard to figure out—at least according to her.

Wyatt nodded. "Yeah, down the hall. I'll be right back."

"Okay," Georgie said, following him to the kitchen, where they parted ways.

"Hey, Wyatt," Peter, who was in the kitchen preparing the dinner, greeted Georgie's boyfriend as he passed by.

Thankfully, Georgie thought, Peter was pretty chill with Wyatt even though he'd been a little suspicious at first. But right now, he was more embarrassing than threatening with his corny dad jokes, which had helped Wyatt to feel a little bit more at ease around him as well.

"Hey, Mr. Morris," Wyatt said. "Just gonna use the bathroom."

"Okay. And you can just call me Peter," the father reminded him for what was probably the third time this year. "Mr. Morris reminds me of work, so I'd rather just be more casual at home." He had also figured out they were past that point right now, as Peter didn't feel like he had to play the big bad dad anymore to make sure Wyatt knew how to treat his daughter.

Wyatt nodded, understanding. "Okay. Peter."

He then went to the bathroom and said his greetings to Jack and Lisa, who were in the living room, surrounded by presents and piles of boxes and paper.

Lisa suddenly got alerted, realizing that if Wyatt was in the house, Georgie was probably, too. She slowly found her way to the kitchen, leaving Jack behind even though he was probably going to do some damage to the gifts, but the fear of Georgie getting spoiled about what was to come was greater than Jack's inability to gift wrap.

"Smells good," Georgie complimented her father. "Looks like you have things under control here—I'm impressed." She knew making a meal for a family this size wasn't a small deal, but she also knew Lou had helped him out with what she'd been able to before she'd had to go to Maggie's to help Jen and Jade out, so Peter wasn't too close to having a nervous breakdown because of all the things he had to do.

"Thanks, I think I'm getting the hang of this," Peter said, pleased with himself as well. "Takes me a while to remember where everything is, but it's all slowly coming back to me."

He rarely spent a long time in this house, let alone prepare meals for everyone, so he wasn't as familiar with the ranch's kitchen as he once had been. Not to mention, ever since Lisa had moved into the house, almost everything had switched places to what she'd seen were more reasonable for them.

"Would you like something to eat?" Lisa asked, walking closer but peering over her shoulder, making sure Georgie couldn't see anything from here.

"Yeah, maybe. But I can do that myself," Georgie said, gesturing to Lisa's cast. "I mean, your arm . . . "

"I still have another perfectly good arm that's working, you know," Lisa reminded her. She wasn't a very patient patient, as she was so used to doing so much all the time, but because she now had physical limitations, it seemed like everyone was quick to remind her about her state all the time, and she couldn't argue back.

"I know, and I appreciate the offer, but I can do a few sandwiches myself as well," Georgie replied, walking toward the fridge. She started taking out things she would need for making a few sandwiches for her and Wyatt as well, if he wanted. "Dad, what do you know about hockey?" she asked, lowering her voice.

"Hockey? What do you mean?" Peter was caught off guard by the question. He glanced toward his daughter, wondering where this was coming from. "And why are we almost whispering?"

"It's Wyatt," Georgie explained, eyeing over her shoulder, somewhat paranoid. "He used to have this thing with his dad every Christmas; they played hockey together. I was thinking maybe I could do something like that with him, but I don't know anything about hockey."

Peter smiled warmly, proud of his daughter, who had such a good heart.

"The first thing you have to know about ice hockey is that the best team is Oilers," Jack's stern voice arrived first to the kitchen and he soon followed it himself. He'd been somewhat eavesdropping on the conversation ever since he'd heard the mention of hockey, making Georgie realize that nothing in this house went unheard. She was worried Wyatt would hear this and maybe get upset again.

"Lisa, can you do me a favor and stall Wyatt when he comes back from the bathroom?" Georgie asked. "I'd like this to be kind of a surprise for him."

"Oh, of course, but just . . . stay in here so he won't hear," Lisa pressed, realizing this thing would kill two birds with one stone. She would have been happy to help her great-granddaughter anyway, but it also helped her if Georgie stayed in the kitchen and wouldn't risk seeing what she'd bought her and everyone else for Christmas.

Georgie nodded, smiling a little, not having a clue that Lisa had her own reasons to help her as well. "Thanks, Lisa."

"Oh, no problem!" Lisa said when she headed to the living room and positioned herself in a way that she could casually block Wyatt from entering the kitchen before the coast was clear, so to speak.

"Okay, with all due respect, Jack, what are you talking about?" Peter said, gearing this comment to Jack, seeming somewhat bothered, but not as much as his facial expression could have made someone think. "Everyone knows that Canucks are the best team out there."

Georgie looked at the two men, arguing about their favorite teams. They were getting side-tracked, and she didn't have a lot of time. She was supposed to do the planning in secret, but Wyatt was going to be basically glued to her throughout the day.

This was her only chance.

"Okay, this was not what I meant. I kind of wanted to know what we would need so we can play ice hockey, and what the rules are." Georgie tried her best to bring their focus back to the things that really mattered right now.

"Well, it's not too difficult," Peter replied while taking a taste test from the gravy he was making. "Okay, that's good," he commented, then getting back to what he had wanted to say. "All you really need are skates, a puck, and a stick to slam it with. The rest is just extra."

"Doesn't sound too complicated," Georgie figured.

Jack was curious. "Where would you do the skating?"

"Uh, I don't know, I haven't really gotten that far," Georgie admitted. "But maybe you could help me out. You know a place?"

"Oh, do I!" Jack chuckled. "There's a perfectly good pond within these acres you could use." He was getting somewhat involved with the planning even if Georgie hadn't specifically asked him first, but Jack could sense that she could use all the help she could get to make this happen in time for Christmas.

"That could work!" Georgie agreed, grinning a little as the planning was coming along.


	5. Chapter 5

Tim wasn't sure if the little cabin covered under snow was a mirage, but it felt like it to him when they finally reached their destination. He was sweaty and his muscles were aching, and the thought of just falling down on the ground sounded like a good option for him, but he forced himself to take those last steps toward the building so they could get inside and start a fire.

"I never thought I'd be this happy to see this crappy cottage," Tim sighed, out of breath. He leaned on one of the poles that held up the roof of the porch. The scenery wasn't as beautiful as it would have been during summer, but something about the rural atmosphere felt perfect for them now. The fewer distractions, the better. After the year they'd had, it felt like they'd barely had time to just stop and enjoy each other's company.

"What are you talking about? It's so charming!" Casey said, walking toward the porch. It needed some shoveling before they could get inside, but unlike Tim, she wasn't as exhausted yet and took one of the shovels placed on the wall.

"You don't think it's crazy that we came here, do you?" Tim asked, wondering if it had been all worth it after all, now that she saw what kind of cabin it was. It was no Dude Ranch, a place where they'd spent some time as well, with many more luxuries.

Tim knew many people just cooked something for their loved one if they wanted to be romantic, maybe opened a bottle of wine and then talked about whatever came to their minds, but that wasn't him at all.

Firstly, he wasn't much of a cook. He could do the bare minimum, but that was all. For years, there had been no one else to cook for but himself, so anything had sufficed as long as it had been food. Secondly, he couldn't drink due to his problems in the past; and thirdly, he wasn't much of a talker either, at least not in the sense most people were. He never shied away from giving his opinion, but letting Casey in, for example, had been hard, and he was still learning how to do that.

"Are you kidding? No, I think this is amazing. Like a little adventure," Casey replied, looking excited. "I love Jen and the boys, I really do, but it's just been crowded in that place of mine lately. When you have a talkative mother, a rebellious teenager, and a hyperactive little kid under the same roof, it can be a lot. I think maybe it's good that they'll have the house to themselves for now. I don't know; I feel like I would have intruded on their family Christmas somehow if I'd stayed. Besides, I really just wanted to spend Christmas with you."

Tim smiled. "Oh yeah?" He'd never really experienced this, someone wanting to dedicate their time to him, when they could've chosen not to. It did make him feel a little warmer despite the cold around him.

"Yeah," Casey said, seeming happy as well. "I mean, if I've learned anything after this year, it's that we should never take anything for granted." It made her feel bittersweet as she carried sadness in her heart because of Curtis, but she was also happy that what had happened to him wasn't going to happen with Tim, but that didn't mean life couldn't still throw them a curve ball. "We should enjoy what we have while we have it."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Tim said, sliding his hand into his pocket and fiddling with a little box inside it. Something told him that this was the night that could change the course of their next year, make it happier than this year had been, because if everything went as he hoped it would, by next morning, Casey would be his fiancée.

* * *

When Ty and Amy had carried the tranquilized caribou inside Bob's clinic, they laid the animal on a soft yet firm surface that was meant to be used for animals such as caribous as they were examined. Ty made sure all of its limbs were in a good position and its neck wasn't twisted. He knew that animals this size weren't light to carry, but this individual had felt much lighter than expected, which was telling him something already.

Amy was focusing on keeping the animal calm while Ty went and got his vet kit. There was a sense of hurry in the air even though both of them kept calm for the sake of the patient.

"I wonder what happened," Amy said out loud, making sure the animal was feeling as cared for as it could even though it probably wouldn't have known any different seeing the state it was in. "Do you think it'll be okay?"

"Have to examine him first," Ty said, kneeling beside them. Amy caressed the coat of the animal while Ty put on his gloves and took out the stethoscope Amy had given him years ago. He was worried but not ready to give up.

"So it's a he?" Amy asked.

"Yeah. Male caribous lose their antlers before winter," Ty said, putting the ear pieces on and then examining the animal's heartbeat and lungs. While he did that, he had a focused expression on his face as he was counting the beats and making sure there weren't any weird sounds coming through that he should be concerned about. "There's some gurgling in his lungs," he told after he took the ear pieces off. Ty then glanced at the animal's face, noticing there was some type of dry mucus around his nose.

Amy soon realized what he was looking at and took a better look at the animal's face as well. He looked very sick and weak, and the mucus made it seem like he had a hard time breathing.

"His eyes are also very crusty," Ty listed as he examined more, making mental notes on what he would need to do next to solve these problems. He let his hand carefully run through the caribou's side, noticing how thin he was. When he got to his legs, there was more to worry about. "Puncture wounds, thankfully not too deep. Probably a wolf."

"Poor thing," Amy said, thinking how scared the animal must have been. "Thankfully he found his way here." It made her heart ache whenever she saw an animal experiencing physical or psychological pain, and this caribou had no doubt been through a lot before he'd found the reserve.

"Yeah. The animals here attract the ones from the woods as well." Ty explained what he knew, putting back his stethoscope and the small flashlight he'd used to get a better look at the injuries. "These guys are migrating right now, and he was probably on his way to some other place as well before this happened."

Amy nodded. She then asked the question that she was partly afraid to ask because she might not like the answer. "Can you help him?"

"I think so." Ty felt confident, yet there was always that fear of losing the animal at the back of his mind, especially because he was more used to helping domesticated animals that had more familiar rehabilitation patterns. But in a way it drove him on, and he always reminded himself to stick to what he knew; the rest would follow. "Maybe you could clean his eyes while I check the wounds on his legs?" he suggested, giving Amy something to do as he knew she was good with animals and wasn't a stranger to helping them as well.

"Okay." Amy got up and started to look for something to clean the caribou's eyes with.

"Okay, buddy," Ty spoke to the caribou softly. The animal's breathing was heavy, and it made Ty worry. "We do our part; you just keep on fighting on, okay?" he said, hoping that in some way the animal would understand him and realize that they were all a team right now.

* * *

It was starting to get late at the ranch and Georgie and Wyatt were back to their chores. Some of the horses needed exercising, so Georgie showed Wyatt how they lunged horses inside the pen.

Meanwhile, Lisa got up from a nap she'd taken after taking her pain medicine, which made her tired. She'd apparently slept for an hour, even though she'd planned to do only twenty minutes or so, and it made her worry she might not get any sleep tonight.

Walking to the living room, Lisa noticed Jack wasn't finished with the gifts. What worried Lisa even more was the fact that her husband was nowhere to be found. The gifts were on the floor, and only half of them were wrapped. It looked like Jack had completely forgotten all about them as soon as she wasn't around.

While Lisa couldn't trace Jack, she found Peter from the kitchen, still cooking. "Peter, have you, by any chance, seen Jack?" Lisa asked.

The man wearing the apron nodded and turned to face Lisa properly. "He said he was going to the pond. Something about shoveling snow."

"What?" Lisa was confused. "Why?"

"I think it has to do with Georgie's surprise for Wyatt," Peter said. "I said I'd go help him when I'm done putting the turkey in the oven. Won't be too long now," he continued while seasoning the stuffing.

Lisa's face got serious and she could feel the annoyance creeping in. _Shoveling snow? He was supposed to finish wrapping the presents!_

In the mudroom, Lisa took her coat and put on her shoes before going outside, striding all the way to the pond where she found her husband, removing snow so that the ice underneath would become visible.

"What are you doing?" Lisa asked, making Jack notice she'd come to see him. She would have crossed her arms across her chest had the other one not been in a cast.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Jack said, completely oblivious to Lisa's mood. "Shoveling snow."

Lisa looked confused. "Why?"

"Because Georgie needed help," he replied, not understanding why Lisa hadn't realized that was what he was doing here, when he'd filled Lisa in on what Georgie was planning earlier, before she'd taken her nap.

"No, I mean—why? Didn't you promise to wrap the presents?" Lisa pointed out.

"Well, yeah," Jack admitted, now noticing Lisa's tense appearance as it was coupled with what she was saying, "and I'll still do it," he continued quickly. "I just have to do this before it gets dark."

"But the gifts are supposed to be wrapped and under the tree before tomorrow morning!" Lisa said. "And forgive me for saying this, but I'm having trouble imagining you being very quick at doing that."

She'd seen how lost Jack had looked when he'd wrestled with the tape and the wrapping paper—even getting his thumb taped a few times. Lisa wanted to give Jack the chance to prove himself with what he'd promised to do, but since the sun was already setting behind the mountains, Lisa couldn't help but worry that it wouldn't get done on time.

"I asked you one thing, one thing only. I know it might not seem much to you, and I wouldn't bother you with it, if I wasn't incapable of doing it myself!" There was desperation in Lisa's voice, which made Jack put down the shovel.

"All right, all right," Jack said, trying to keep his wife calm. "I'll be right there. Those gifts will be wrapped in no time; don't you worry."

Lisa felt stupid for being so pushy, but maybe she wasn't so different from Jack after all: she liked her routine, especially on Christmas, and it was already ruined because of her broken arm and inability to do things she usually did. Looking after the gifts was the only thing keeping her mind balanced at the moment.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you. I just... I hate feeling so helpless," Lisa said as Jack climbed up the little hill where Lisa was standing. "All year, I've been nothing but helpless, and I don't like that. It's like I don't even recognize myself. I don't feel like I'm in control of anything anymore, and I just wanted to have this one little thing, one familiar thing, but I can't even do that... " She began to cry.

"Hey, hey..." Jack sensed a hug was needed. He thrust the shovel through a pile of snow and then wrapped his arms around Lisa. "I didn't mean to make you upset. I was just trying to help out Georgie, is all."

"I know," Lisa said, sighing. "I'm sorry for making you feel bad about that. It wasn't my intention. I thought Georgie's idea for Wyatt was really nice, and of course you would support her this way. You wouldn't be you if you didn't."

"I know; no need to apologize," Jack replied. "But I think I've done as much here as I can do with this back of mine anyway. Peter said he'd be helping me. He's younger; I think he can finish this in no time."

He'd known this all along—that he might not be able to do much because of his aching bones—but he'd had to try at least as his stubbornness didn't go hand in hand with his physical abilities.

"He said he was coming out soon." Lisa shared what Peter had said to her.

"Then I think it's definitely my time to go back inside and get back to wrapping those presents," the older man figured. "Come on. I don't want you to get a cold."


	6. Chapter 6

"Thanks for coming! And have a very merry Christmas!" Jen said from the doorway to the last customers leaving Maggie's diner. The day had been a good one, and she'd been sending many happy faces on their way within the last hour. But now they were all gone and it was time to wrap things up. She closed the door and locked it.

Meanwhile, Jade was cleaning the tables while Lou was counting the money behind the counter. Jen sighed heavily, feeling like she'd accomplished something great. For a few hours, she hadn't been a widow, but someone who'd made this amazing thing happen for these families on Christmas.

"Not bad," Lou said as she was done counting the money. She looked at Jen with a smile on her face. "I'm pretty happy with the results."

"Good, but not everything is counted in money, you know," Jen pointed out, taking a seat in front of Lou.

Lou looked a little embarrassed as she realized she'd probably given the impression that the only reason she'd even agreed to this was because it would make them some money, but the story behind the comment was that throughout this whole year, her biggest issues had been involving money as she was trying to get the Maggie's in New York up and running, so it was easy to be happy for once when they were making money instead of losing it.

"Of course not," Lou said and got into thinking. "And to prove that to you, I'm going to give away this day's proceeds to an organization of your choice."

Jen's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, it's Christmas," Lou said. Sure, they could have used that money, but in the long run, it was a very small amount, whereas to someone else, that money right now was life-changing.

"But we already have all the toys we're going to give away. Are you sure?" Jen checked. She didn't want to guilt-trip Lou into giving more than she could.

Lou nodded. "Absolutely."

"As long as I get my paycheck!" Jade cut in. "As much as I'd like to do charity, I can't afford it." She knew she probably sounded selfish, but she was now living on her own and every paycheck mattered.

"Of course," Lou promised. She might have promised to give money away, but that was her decision, and Jade shouldn't have to pay for that. "So, which one is it going to be?"

"Can I think about it?" Jen said. "It just came so suddenly."

"Sure, sure," Lou promised and closed the cash machine. "So, are you all set with the toys?" She glanced toward the many boxes by the door with stuffed animals and other toys.

"Yeah. I'm just going to have to carry them to the truck," Jen said.

"I can help you out," Mitch offered, taking off his beard as he got up from the throne. His job here was done, but he still wanted to offer a helping hand.

Both Katie and Brick, who were sitting eating gingerbread, gasped in horror. Jade looked shocked as well; she couldn't believe what Mitch had just done. He'd kept in character this whole time and now, just before things were coming to an end, he'd basically destroyed Katie and Brick's childhood.

"Mitch!" Lou yelped. "Can we have a talk?" she said strictly, like a teacher who was about to call a student to her office. Mitch realized the mistake he'd made as soon as he saw the look on Katie and Brick's faces. He put the beard back on—but he knew it was too late already.

"Jade, can you help Jen with the boxes?" Lou asked as she was taking Mitch to the back. The man followed, looking like he was afraid of getting into trouble.

"Yeah, sure," Jade said, putting her table towel aside. "Let's get those boxes loaded." She gave Mitch a grim look that said, "What did I tell you?"

At the back, Lou turned to face Mitch, reading to give him a piece of her mind. "Why would you do that? You knew there were still kids in here!"

"I didn't realize!" Mitch tried to excuse his mistake. "I mean, it was just Katie and Brick; I thought maybe they knew it was me, anyway."

"Well, obviously, they didn't," Lou said, already feeling worried how Katie was going to take this. And Jen—she would probably be mad too, even if she hadn't said anything. Brick had already been through enough this year as it was. "Now I have to tell them that you weren't the real Santa. This is going to break Katie's heart!"

"Mommy?" Katie's voice came from behind Mitch, and they both turned around. Neither of them knew what to expect, but at least the little girl wasn't crying.

"Yes, honey?" Lou said, prepping herself to deal with Katie's feelings.

"Can I call and tell Abraham that I know the real Santa?" Katie asked.

Lou looked surprised. "What do you mean?" She and Mitch exchanged confused looks.

"Well… I sort of knew that the beard wasn't really real, but I didn't know that Mitch was hiding behind it," Katie explained. "So now that I know that it's him, I'd like to tell Abraham that Santa is my mom's boyfriend."

"Wait a minute." Lou had to check if she was understanding this right and completely ignored the whole part about Mitch being her boyfriend. Katie didn't really understand how people just broke up sometimes even though just a while ago they were dating, but that was a discussion for another time. "You'd like to tell Abraham that you know Santa—who dresses up as Mitch?"

"Yes!" Katie said in delight. Both Lou and Mitch looked at each other, wondering what to say. Children really had a way of making things work for themselves.

"Uh—" Lou started.

"Listen, Katie." Mitch knelt over to her. "It's kind of a secret of mine, so I'd really like to keep it that way. I would appreciate it if you wouldn't tell anyone about this secret, and maybe you could tell Brick not to tell either?"

Katie listened carefully before nodding as she seemed to completely understand that this was confidential information. "I promise."

"Pinkie promise?" he suggested with a pinkie pointing upward. Katie wrapped her pinkie around it, and they did a little twist with their fingers. Maybe he hadn't broken the little kids' hearts after all but had actually given them something even more magical to think about. "Thank you. Now, go on and tell Brick!"

Katie then left, running to tell her friend what "Santa" had just told her.

"You're lucky my daughter has such a big imagination," Lou said, feeling relieved but still a bit annoyed because of Mitch. But what else was new? "That could've easily ruined her whole Christmas."

"I know. I'm sorry," Mitch said, feeling remorse. He then removed his beard out of the way, since the crisis had been averted. "This thing was just so itchy; it was starting to drive me insane."

"Your chin does look a little red," Lou admitted. "But maybe it's a right punishment for you," she added, smiling.

MItch laughed a little. "And what do I get for saving the day?"

"Hmm." Lou thought about it, but she already kind of knew what would make a good reward as it seemed that whenever she was standing close to Mitch, she couldn't help but think about kissing him. It seemed like Mitch had his mind set on it as well, as his eyes kept checking her lips. "Maybe … something like this."

They both leaned in and kissed each other. It felt like it had been a long time coming, and this whole thing had just made them realize they couldn't stay away from each other.

"Lou, we are all packed—" Jade came to the back of the tack section and noticed Lou and Mitch locking lips. "Uh, never mind." She turned on her heel and shook her head. She hadn't really expected to see that, but at the same time she wasn't really surprised.

* * *

At the fishing cabin, Tim had just gotten a fire started in the hearth while Casey was lighting candles all around. She'd gotten a little bit distracted as she was going through all the items in the cabin, thinking how each one of them must have had an amazing story attached to it. There was something charming about being surrounded by so much history.

"We should be warmer soon," Tim said as he rubbed his hands together and then warmed them up against the fire, kneeling before it. The hearth gave the cabin a lovely orange hue and made it feel much cozier.

"Great, thanks," Casey said, looking at Tim now. "Why don't we make something warm to drink? We could heat it by the fire."

Tim nodded. "Sounds good."

While Casey was getting coffee from their bags, she heard Tim grunting as he was trying to get up. The trek must have been too much for him as Tim tried to push himself up but almost lost his balance. A fear of the tumor being back ran through Casey's head as she rushed to his aid.

"Easy," she said, coming to Tim's support. "I'll get ya."

"I'm fine." Tim downplayed it. "I guess I've been hanging out with Jack too much because his oldness is starting to rub off on me." He tried to crack a joke, but Casey knew he was having a hard time realizing he wasn't as young as he used to be.

"Right, that must be it," Casey hummed.

Tim took a better grip of Casey's shoulders and balanced himself. "Thanks."

She could see from his face that he looked a little wary, almost as if he was embarrassed that she'd caught him in such weak moment. All year round, he'd been trying his best not to show that anything would crush him, but Casey didn't care; she just wanted him to be honest with her.

In reality, Tim felt like maybe Casey could somehow see through him and he couldn't keep this secret from her any longer. "Actually, I shouldn't have gotten up."

Casey looked at him, wondering why. Maybe he was feeling lightheaded. "Oh?"

"Because," he continued, getting back to one knee, grunting again and making Casey worried. "No, it's okay; I'm okay." He fought her off a little. "I just … wanted to ask you something."

His position was already giving Casey some ideas, but when he pulled something out of his pocket, she froze. Was this really happening?

"Casey McMurtry," Tim said, bringing the ring box in front of him. "Would you make me the happiest and luckiest man alive and marry me?" That was his cue to open the box and present her a ring.

Casey brought her hand to cover her mouth as she tried to catch up with what was happening. But while Tim expected her to say yes, he was met with a giggle that just kept growing.

Had he done something wrong? He knew maybe he could have made the proposal a little more romantic, but he couldn't wait any longer. "What?"

"It's just—I was going to be the one to take the next step!" Casey said, accusing him in a teasing manner. "I thought we'd come here and I'd suggest we'd move in together. That's why I wanted to come here in the first place; I thought it would be a perfect spot. Just you and I."

"What?" Tim said again. He was still lost, but this time because he hadn't expected Casey to have thought about something like that.

"It's the whole reason why I had the snow shoes, too; you know, just in case we need them because you never know with these parts. And we did!" Casey kept going. Tim still didn't move as he wasn't sure if Casey had just turned him down or agreed. Casey then realized her response was overdue as well. "But yes—yes, I will marry you, Tim Fleming!"

She got on her knees and pulled him into a kiss. "This is perfect! I mean, it works. We might as well get married and move in together!"

"Who said anything about moving in together? I just asked you to marry me." From the tone of his voice, Casey could tell he was joking, so she slapped him playfully, which made him laugh.

"Ow!" He laughed and she giggled with excitement. "Come on. Let's see if it fits." Tim felt nervous but tried his best not to show it as he took the ring off from the box and slid it onto Casey's finger. "How is it?"

"A little loose, but we can get it fitted," Casey commented, admiring it. "It's beautiful." She turned to kiss Tim again, feeling lighter than she'd felt for years. It really felt like the stars in the sky had aligned for them—finally.

* * *

At the reserve, Ty and Amy had moved the caribou into an indoor stall, where they could keep an eye on him. Amy leaned on the gate and watched as the caribou stood in the corner on his wobbly legs.

"He's woken up," Amy informed Ty as she heard his footsteps approaching from the other side of the room. "He seems a little nervous; he hasn't really moved since he got up."

"That's a natural reaction," Ty commented, walking next to Amy to check if the caribou was putting any weight on his hurt leg. It seemed like he was careful with it, but overall it didn't seem to bother him too much. "I called Bob and let him know that he'll have a new caribou here when he gets back, just so he isn't confused. He said we could try to put him with the other caribou when he's feeling better; they might find each other soothing since they live in herds."

"I think Rudolph would like that," Amy said as she'd seen already how the caribou had been looking for safety from the other animal.

Ty gave her a long look. "Rudolph?"

Amy blushed a little. "Well, I mean, you have to admit that it's pretty special to find a caribou on a Christmas Eve," she said, knowing that she shouldn't have named the animal, as it only got her more attached, but she couldn't help herself.

Ty laughed a little, nodding. He hadn't really thought about it, but then again this was the first time since finding the animal that he was able to relax a little. "Well, yeah, I guess it is."

"How long do you think it'll take before he's ready to go back to the wilderness?" Amy asked. While the animal was back on his feet, he was still weak and needed antibiotics to help him overcome the infections.

"I would say a week or so, but we'll see how he'll improve."

"Do you think I could be here when Bob releases him?" Amy asked. She knew she would only get more attached to Rudolph during their time at the reserve, but the good thing was that during her years as a horse healer, she'd also learned when to let go.

"I don't see why not," Ty said. He could understand why releasing the animal back into wild was such an interesting part for people to see, but especially for Amy. She was someone who helped horses on a daily basis and was part of their rehabilitation story. With them, she was able to check on them afterwards as well if she wanted, but with wild animals—like this caribou—the moment of goodbye was special, because that was the last time they would ever see each other.

"Do you think Santa will be mad at him for missing the biggest night of the year?" Ty asked.

Amy looked at him, pleased that she'd been able to pull him into this playful conversation. "I think he might be able to forgive him. He has a pretty good reason to be absent, after all."

"Yeah; I mean, not many of these guys can say they've fought off a wolf," Ty replied, wrapping his arm around Amy's shoulders. "He's pretty bad-ass."


	7. Chapter 7

"And that's a wrap," Jack announced when he put on the last bow on the last gift wrapped, "and quite literally so!"

Chuckling warmly, he took Lisa, who was sitting next to him on the couch, under his arm and admired the work they'd been doing for hours now. They let their gazes scan the pile of gifts that were now wrapped and ready to be put under the Christmas tree, feeling very accomplished with what they'd done.

"I really couldn't have done this without you, Lis." He gave credit where credit was due, because even though he'd volunteered to help Lisa, Jack had had no idea what he was in for.

Lisa looked her husband calmly, feeling like a huge weight had been lifted off her chest because of how much Jack had helped her. "And I couldn't have done this without you," she said, giving him a peck. "So thank you for that."

Jack hummed, looking at Lisa's arm subconsciously. "Maybe your broken arm was a blessing in disguise," he said, but felt the need to explain more as it sounded wrong. "I'm not saying I'm happy that you got hurt-not at all." He shook his head. "But this gave us something to do together. Otherwise I would've never seen this part of your life; you would've just wrapped the presents on your own, and I would've been doing something else and stayed completely oblivious about how much thought and effort you put into every gift you give and wrap."

"You might be right," Lisa admitted after giving it a thought. This tradition might have come to Jack as a surprise, much like many of her other habits, but unlike some others, they had actually been brought together by this experience. "I don't think I would've involved you in this had there not been this broken arm, seeing how much I love wrapping the presents myself. So, does this mean that instead of this just being my tradition, maybe it can become something we do together?"

Jack pursed his lips together thoughtfully. He had to admit he wouldn't have probably said yes to it without the urgency, but now that he'd given it a try, it wasn't as bad as he would have expected. "Maybe. But I really need to learn which wrapping paper goes with what ribbon."

He hadn't done well in that department and eventually he'd run every choice through Lisa, just to make sure the gifts would come out how she'd like them.

"But that's why you have me here," Lisa prided herself. "I'm your eyes; you're my hands."

After planting another happy kiss on Lisa's lips, Jack got up and started arranging the presents under the tree in the corner so the task would be completely finished.

Lisa got on her feet as well when she heard people walking inside the house and wanted to know who were coming. She could see Lou and Jade walking in with Katie running around on their feet.

"Daddy, Daddy! Look at this gingerbread house I made!" Katie, who was holding her masterpiece in her hands, chimed as she ran to her father.

Peter was just about to take the turkey from the oven, but when he realized his daughter had something to show him, he let the bird stay inside for a little while longer as this was more important. "Wow, look at you!" he said proudly and accepted the edible house from Katie before planting it on the table for a better inspection. Even though it wasn't exactly a finished piece, it still exhibited Katie's love for colors. "That looks amazing, honey!" he praised, noticing how it was missing few candies already. Katie probably couldn't have resisted the temptation on the way home.

Lou got inside with Jade and started to unwrap from her coat and scarf. "Katie, shoes," she reminded her daughter when the girl had forgotten to take them off. When Katie came back to the mudroom and took her shoes off, just like Lou had asked, Lou shifted her attention to Peter and took in the intoxicating smell. "How's it going over here?"

"Almost done," Peter said, putting on the oven mitts so he could take out the turkey now. "Just need to get all this food to the table."

"I can help you with that," Lou offered.

"Where's Georgie?" Jade asked, looking around to find her friend.

"She's doing night check. Wyatt left like five minutes ago", Peter shared.

Jade nodded. "I'll go to the barn."

"Hey, would you mind telling Georgie we're almost ready to eat? Thanks."

"Sure," Jade said before she left.

"Speaking of Wyatt..." Peter got back to talking to Lou, who was now unwrapped from her outdoor clothes and in the kitchen. "Georgie and I decided to arrange something for Wyatt and his family. Do you think you could get Jen and Brick to come here tomorrow with skates and ice hockey sticks for three people?"

Lou frowned and leaned on the kitchen table, taking a snack from the salad that was on display. "Skates and ice hockey sticks?" She didn't have the slightest clue why Peter would ask them to bring those.

"Yeah. I'll tell you all about it later," Peter said vaguely, lifting the turkey onto the table and making sure it looked cooked.

They could hear steps from the porch, and soon Ty and Amy walked in. Lou looked over her shoulder, somewhat surprised that they'd made it from the reserve.

"Hey, guys!" she greeted them. "Glad you could join us."

"Of course, it's not like the reserve's far away," Amy said, taking off her gloves.

"Scott came to cover for us for few hours," Ty explained, closing the door behind them, and started to unzip his coat. "We'll have to head back there after the dinner."

"That was nice of him," Lou commented with a smile on her face. "So, how was the reserve?" She was curious to know.

"Good. It was good." Amy kept nodding and checked to see Ty's reaction. His face told the same story. "We actually helped a hurt caribou," she shared excitedly.

Lou looked impressed. "What? Really?"

"Yup," Ty nodded, "and Amy named him Rudolph." Ty had to tell them, and it made Amy hum a little as she felt maybe it had been a little childish after all, but she couldn't have resisted.

"How was the Maggie's thing?" Amy changed the subject even though she was excited about the caribou but she didn't want to dwell on too long in the Rudolph part.

"It went well," Lou said. "It was a success!"

"That's good," Amy replied, coming in. "The food smells amazing!"

"Didn't realize I was this hungry!" Ty laughed. "Do you need help taking them to the table?"

"Yeah, sure, thanks," Peter replied.

While Amy and Ty were catching up with Peter, Lou felt a little blush on her cheeks as she thought back to what had happened at the diner. Lou wanted to believe it was because the blood was starting to rush back to her face after being outside in the cold, but the truth was, it was all Mitch's doing. She still didn't know where they stood-again-but it seemed like they just couldn't keep away from each other.

Surely that had to mean something.

* * *

Inside the barn, Georgie was making sure every horse had its share of the hay when Jade walked in. She glanced at her friend, feeling glad Jade could join the Christmas dinner as it gave them an opportunity to catch up face to face.

"Hey, kid," Jade greeted her. "You almost done here? Your dad said they're getting ready to eat."

"Yeah. I'm done. Just need to switch off the lights and lock the door," Georgie said before doing just those things. "How was Maggie's? Did anyone even come?"

"Oh yeah, lots of people. It actually wasn't that bad after your mom let me be in charge of the music. Jen has this arranging events thing down," Jade replied, tagging along. "Oh, and also... I saw your mom kissing Santa Claus."

Georgie was shocked and stared at her friend. "You-what?"

"Yup," Jade grinned, knowing how weird it sounded. "I guess your mom and Mitch are back on," she continued, giving an indication that it wasn't just some random guy Lou had kissed.

"I'm never going to hear that song the same, ever again," Georgie scoffed.

* * *

The next morning, after everyone had had breakfast and opened their presents, the family was getting their outdoor clothes on. Georgie had filled the family in on what this day was going to be about, Peter had made sure the ice was still visible at the pond, and Lou had made them all hot chocolate to go with sandwiches when they needed a break from the game.

Last night, Lou had phoned her friend and told her what Peter had shared with her: that they were planning to have an ice hockey match among friends and family in Curtis's honor. Jen had burst into tears after what she'd heard and thanked them from the bottom of her heart. She promised not to share the plan with either Wyatt or Brick, and the next day when they arrived, both boys looked clueless when they walked from their car toward the porch. They thought this was just a quick visit to Heartland to wish the Bartletts Merry Christmas.

Even though Ty and Amy were still responsible for the reserve and had spent the night there, they'd promised to join the rest of the family to enjoy this hockey game at the ranch as it was the first of its kind at Heartland and they wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to support Wyatt and his family. Amy had even given Georgie her old skates as she didn't really do anything with them anyway and the young girl had been in dire need of something to skate with.

The plan was to have team of threes: Peter and Katie had promised to play on Georgie's team, giving an equal match to Jen, Wyatt, and Brick. Thanks to Katie's ballet lessons, she'd impressed the family with her balance when they'd tried on her skates at the pond early that morning, and Georgie had been quick to learn the basic rules of the game, even though mostly this was more about having fun than scoring goals.

Georgie and Lou stood at the porch, welcoming their guests while others were already at the pond, waiting for the game to start.

"Aren't you sick of seeing my face already?" Wyatt asked when he walked over to his girlfriend. Georgie smirked at his comment, but underneath she was feeling nervous about Wyatt's response to the game.

"Not yet," Georgie commented. Wyatt came to give her cheek a peck.

"Thanks for coming," Lou said, standing next to Georgie and holding a basket full of BLT sandwiches and hot chocolate for the whole lot.

Jen walked up to hug her and squeezed her tight. "You have no idea how much this means to us."

"It's our pleasure," Lou insisted, feeling happy to help her friend and her family.

"Mommy, are we going to go to play with Daddy now?" Katie asked, feeling excited about the game they'd talked about all morning. It had almost made her more excited than the Christmas presents she'd opened that morning!

"Yeah. You can go to the pond with Brick," Lou said, knowing that they would make it safely as it wasn't that far off and there were people waiting for them there.

"Come on, I'll show you!" Katie said to Brick, and they started running toward the pond behind the barn. Wyatt looked after his brother, feeling a little protective of him even though he was pretty smart for a kid for his age and knew how to get help if he needed it.

"Everyone's already there," Lou told Jen. "So grab your stuff and follow us."

"Okay. Can you help me getting them from my trunk?" Jen asked.

Lou nodded. "Sure."

"What's going on?" Wyatt asked from Georgie, wondering if whatever was happening involved him too.

Georgie inhaled nervously, still not wanting to give the surprise away. Maybe it was better to just show him. "Come with me," she said, taking him by the hand. They followed Katie and Brick's lead to the pond.

By the ring and on top of the little hill, Jack heard the sound of a text message coming from his pocket. He dug out his cellphone and checked who it was from. The screen had Tim's name on it and instead of a message, he'd received a picture from him.

Jack stretched his hand as far away as he could as he wanted to see what was on the screen and he couldn't see it close up without his reading glasses. "Well, would you look at that!" Jack commented gleefully after a while.

"What is it?" Lisa asked, peering over. "Wait... is that-is that a ring on Casey's finger?!"

They both stared at the picture of Tim and Casey, selfie-style and smiling happily, and Casey had positioned her left hand in front of the camera for a better view. The ring on her ring finger didn't go unnoticed.

"Looks like it!" Jack chuckled. "Now I get why Tim was so desperate to get to that cabin," he murmured, shaking his head. "That sly son of a gun."

"You should text him back," Lisa insisted. "Tell them we're happy for them!"

Jack nodded, agreeing. "Hang on. I need to see the letters. Where's the... uh," he murmured, moving his fingers over the buttons.

"I'll do it," Lisa said, offering her help. He might have had two capable hands, but Jack was still more inept when it came to writing a text message; even Lisa could do it better and quicker with her left hand. Not to mention, with Jack's reputation with smart phones, he could accidentally reply something odd if he didn't make sure his auto-correct was off.

"Amy," Jack hollered his granddaughter, who was standing closer to the ice with Ty. Amy turned her head to hear what he had to say. "Your dad and Casey got engaged!"

"What? Seriously?!"

"He just sent me a picture," Jack said, pointing toward his phone that Lisa was now holding as she typed the text message.

"Way to go, Tim!" Ty laughed, chuckling with Amy in disbelief.

At the same time, Katie and Brick arrived at the pond; Georgie and Wyatt weren't far behind. On the ice, Peter was getting used to having his skates on again after years of not playing as he was making sure he still remembered how to handle his ice hockey stick.

Wyatt froze on the top of hill, realizing that Peter was on skates and that this must have had something to do with what he'd shared with Georgie yesterday. Georgie looked at him nervously, trying to read his expression.

"I thought maybe you'd like it," Georgie said carefully. "Everyone pitched in and wanted to help. We could have a game of our own. Me, Peter, and Katie as a team, playing against you, Jen, and Brick. What do you say?"

Wyatt looked at the clean ice, lost for words. Georgie could see him holding back tears and felt him squeeze her hand a little tighter.

"I don't know what to say," he finally said. That didn't really tell much to Georgie.

Lou and Jen finally arrived at the pond as well, Lou holding the basket and Jen holding a bag of skates and three sticks.

"I was thinking about that money you decided to give away," Jen said to Lou. "I thought maybe we could give it to cancer research under Curtis's name."

"Sounds good," Lou replied, nodding. She could sense how much that would mean to Jen.

When he heard the two women talking, Wyatt turned around, wondering if Jen had known about this. When he saw her expression, he knew this wasn't a surprise for her.

"Lou made some BLTs and hot chocolate." Jen started talking as she didn't know what else there was to say. "Just like I used to make when we had our Christmas matches. know it's not like how it used to be-it never will be, not without Curtis, but... just like the blueberry pancakes, this could be a new tradition, right? Our way to remember your dad."

She knew that in some ways, Wyatt was a lucky one. He could remember a lot of things about Curtis, whereas Brick probably wouldn't have the same luxury. Still, Jen was persistent to keep her late husband's memory alive for all of them.

Wyatt held back tears, still feeling speechless. He couldn't really handle this amount of emotions all at once, especially in front of so many people, so he tried to focus on something else, something more irrelevant almost.

"What about the sticks?" Wyatt pointed out the three sticks Jen was holding, recognizing them to be theirs. "Brick doesn't have one."

Jen looked at the sticks, knowing that Wyatt had a point, but he wasn't exactly right.

"Well, I was thinking... maybe he could use yours," Jen said, "and you could use your dad's. I'm sure he would've wanted you to have it. And I-well-I could actually try to give mine a chance as well. Been standing on the sidelines far too long." She had a stick Curtis had given her on their first Christmas together in hopes that someday she would join them, but she'd never gotten on the ice and put it to use while he'd been here. Maybe now it was time for that.

After Jen's words, it was impossible for Wyatt to hold back his tears, and when they fell from his eyes, he went in and hugged Jen. His stepmother was a little surprised, but she embraced him soon, feeling like they were both somehow healing through this experience.

Everyone around them held back their tears as well. It was beautiful to watch this family sticking together even after something as tragic as they had went through.

Wyatt and Jen eventually loosened their arms and looked at each other determinedly. Lou handed Wyatt his skates, as she felt like it was the right time, and Jen gave him Curtis's stick, almost like as a sign of passing the torch.

When he accepted it, somehow Wyatt could feel Curtis closer. "Okay," he said, clearing his throat. "Let's get our skates on-show these suckers how it's done."

Jen laughed, and on the side, Georgie smirked so widely her dimples showed. It seemed like this had been a good decision after all.

Wyatt looked at his girlfriend. "You're going down, Fleming-Morris." This seemed like the usual cocky Wyatt attitude she was familiar with.

"Sure about that?" Georgie replied. "I've been practicing."

"Oh yeah? Well, we'll see if that has paid off!"

They went on with their banter and everyone huddled around to watch the game.

While Wyatt and Jen were showing Brick how he should move with his practice skates and stick, Peter was getting warmed up with Georgie. On the sidelines, Lisa shared Tim and Casey's news with Lou, and Ty and Amy insisted on seeing the engagement picture themselves.

When it was finally game time, the atmosphere got more tense, but everyone was still having fun. Even though it was cold outside, the family continued playing for a few hours, all thinking how this was going to be their new Christmas Day tradition.

The BLT sandwiches, hot chocolate and ice hockey.

 **THE END**


End file.
